Retrieve BLOB MySQL PHP issue when the data is transmitted through web server firewall?

From what you post in your question this looks like an encoding issue between the database client (your webserver) and the database server (amazon EC2). Just double-check the database client and server settings and ensure that the data stored within the database is correctly encoded as well.

WOW! This was a tough nut to crack but really incredible that this can mess up a working codebase.

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